[d1554573r]

I know im diggin this post from the grave but its actually rather hard subject, and a straight awnser is nowhere to be found. 
 
I though i got some exotic hardware but it turned out linux had proper drivers by default in nearly any distro i tried. Any how Linux does great job with USB DAC's and... like other ppl said lots have changed in linux audio. First of all OSS was replaced by ALSA and so far alsa is the best sound manager i seen on any platform. Quality wise it beats the crap of windows. My AKG's agree on this

 

[therealbene]

I'm digging the post from the second grave. Lol
 
I'd like to express my situation, using more Head-fi terms:
1. Using Foobar2k, DIrectSound on Windows 7. Sound low-fi. 
2. Using Foobar 2k, WASAPI on Windows 7. Sound high-fi audio (already!) but like in closed environment. Like, the soundstage is imploded (on relative term).
3. Using Amarok on Linux Mint 16 to ALSA, dircet hardware interface (removed PulseAudio). The high-fi just got plugged to speakers (from closed headphone feeling to open headphones!).
 
My audio gear(s) is the AK10 USB-DAC/AMP, with Etymotic ER4P/S earphones and AKG K272HD.
 
The condition I described holds for both ER4 and K272.
 
 
Now can I buy an AKG K812 to test it further? My wallet is not supporting me, so far...